Letters to the editor Saturday

Recent letters demonstrate a misunderstanding of the funding, purpose, and accountability of the U.S. Federal Reserve System.

The Fed is our central bank, created by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.

The Federal Reserve's responsibilities fall into four categories:

-- Influencing money and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of full employment and stable prices

-- supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the soundness of the nation's financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers

-- stabilizing the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets

-- providing certain financial services to the U.S. government, the public, financial institutions, and to foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments systems

The Federal Open Market Committee, which comprises the Board of Governors and the presidents of five regional Federal Reserve Banks, oversees the Fed's tools to influence money market conditions and the growth of money and credit.

The Federal Reserve is not "owned" by anyone and is not a private, profit-making institution. Instead, it is an independent entity within the government, having both public purposes and private aspects.

The Fed derives its authority from the U.S. Congress. It is considered an independent central bank because its decisions do not have to be ratified by the executive or legislative branches of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the Board of Governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms.

However, the Federal Reserve is subject to oversight by Congress, which periodically reviews its activities and can alter its responsibilities by statute. Also, the Fed must work within the framework of the overall objectives of economic and financial policy established by the government. Therefore, the Federal Reserve can be more accurately described as "independent within the government." The Fed's ultimate accountability is to Congress, which at any time can amend the Federal Reserve Act.

LEE LASSITER

Savannah

Obama boosts American prestige

I would like to take Mary Dawson to task on a number of issues in her Oct. 24 letter.

Her claim that the U.S. has lost prominence was true. During the last "you're with us or against us" administration, our standing sank to an all-time low.

However, since President Obama's short tenure he has doubled America's popularity abroad. In France it is 91 percent, Germany 93 percent, Japan 85 percent, India 77 percent. Even in some Muslim countries such as Egypt he was received by huge masses. Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize acknowledged both his and American popularity across the globe.

Ms. Dawson's claim of a 25 percent cut in military expenditures is misleading. In fact, I don't believe there has been a president in history who has cut the military budget by that much.

For 2010 under Obama the military is getting a pay raise and the overall defense budget will increase over Bush's budget by $9 billion dollars. Both Obama and Secretary Gates are re-prioritizing the Pentagon budget by spending less on unnecessary over budget government contractors and unnecessary equipment.

Regarding our tax dollars spent on Brazilian oil exploration, that money does not come from American tax dollars but, rather from the Import-Export Bank which receives no appropriations from Congress. The money will be well spent however, since it will use American technology, manpower and manufacturing.

I would suggest Ms. Dawson have a little more faith and less criticism. Yes, there have been mistakes, but this administration I believe is doing everything it can and in good faith to bring us out of dark times.

DAVID PETERSON

Thunderbolt

Give Obama time on Afghanistan

I find it odd to hear folks demanding that President Obama immediately escalate the war in Afghanistan.

Yes, he did select General McChrystal to lead the effort, but the president is the commander in chief.

It is strange to hear former Vice President Dick Cheney complain when it was his administration that launched a premature invasion of Iraq while effectively ignoring Afghanistan, enabling us to change the one war we were winning into two that are in peril.

In Iraq, we painfully lost over 4,000 brave soldiers, along with over 30,000 wounded, all without finding weapons of mass destruction or capturing Bin Laden and those responsible for 9-11.

Obama was against the Iraq war from the beginning, and if his careful and deliberate judgment prevailed the horror of Iraq would have been avoided.

Maturity is learning from your mistakes. To honor the dedication of our men and women in uniform, let's think this one through.

WILLIAM PETERSON

Savannah

Corps is the fox in environmental hen house

In regard to the "environment protections" proposed for the Savannah Port deepening project, are we really being asked to trust the same U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who last month ignored appeals and warning from our Coastal Division of the Georgia DNR and dredged off-shore around Brunswick and Tybee Island, killing seven endangered/threatened loggerhead sea turtles?

Do we really think we can trust the Corps to protect our rare sturgeon and striped bass, keep "artificial" oxygen in the river and allow salt water to invade our beautiful, pristine Savannah Wildlife Refuge?

We all know too well you can't have the fox guard the hen house.

CHUCK POWELL

Tybee Island

Hey guys, I won too

This is two editorials in a row where you said Wanda Doyle was the only incumbent to keep her seat. I actually beat her by over 100 votes. By the way, she's also touting the staggered four-year term plan I submitted six years ago.

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I will get to Obama/Afghanistan ( and try to stay brief) however the comment box does not come up under the story about how people are not clearing the way for emergency vehicles as they once did, so if okay, will make my comment here. The story says it is because
(the writer thinks) people are using cell phones and direction-finders while driving today's airtight vehicles, however, I beg to differ. I grew up downtown and still live there. On any given day now, you can hear sirens blaring between 30 and 40 times per day. I go to sleep with them and wake up with them. Often you can hear sirens several times an hour, most frequently on Oglethorpe and/or Bay Sts. Of course there are not five, six, or seven 'emergencies' per hour in those areas, it is the people driving the 'emergency' vehicles wanting to hurry somewhere for lunch or to make a phone call, or just to avoid heavy traffic. After awhile, it becomes the "boy who cried wolf" syndrome and people ignore them. That is what is happening, not an airtight car. Sirens are overused and are not being used for emergencies any more. I have ignored them for years. I saw an ambulance racing east on Oglethorpe recently almost hit an elderly woman who stepped in front of it.She was likely jaded since sirens go off in her face all day long ( and there is no hospital east of Savannah, all of them being in midtown or southside.) As to Obama, he could have shut the Iraq war down long ago, but instead is sending more and more troops there. He is propping up a corrupt puppet regime in Afghanistan ( which controls absolutely nothing but small sections of Kabul and 'represents' no one but US warmongers.) He has started another war in Pakistan, and he awaits his orders from Israel as to how our military should attack Iran in that war, which is just around the corner.

Mr. Powell’s letter about the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project is an example of someone sitting on the sidelines and saying anything they want, without any facts or support. I’ve been attending Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Stakeholders meetings as a citizen for almost ten years. The Corps of Engineers follows a specific evaluation procedure for projects to make sure the facts are consistent at the national level where the funding decisions are made.

USACE’s concerns about the environment are professional and supported by science and technology. Contrary to Mr. Powell’s view, they consider people and our community to be part of the environment. The environmental impacts of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project have been addressed and will be mitigated. The environmental community will achieve significant benefits through their participation in the process. USACE would have stopped the project if there were real, unmitigated environmental impacts.

USACE’s Savannah District Engineer, COL Ed Kertis, has already responded to the sea turtle/dredging issue. The Corps was looking for a more efficient use of taxpayers’ dollars, conducted an experimental dredging program and stopped as soon as there were indications that it would impact the sea turtle population. Mr. Powell’s time would be better spent participating in the process rather than sitting on the sideline and throwing stones.